Tejano music, also known as Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style fusing Mexican and US influences. Typically, Tejano combines Mexican Spanish vocal styles with dance rhythms from Czech and German genres -particularly polka or waltz. Tejano music is traditionally played by small groups featuring accordion and guitar or bajo sexto. Its evolution began in northern Mexico.
The term conjunto refers to several types of small musical ensembles present in different Latin American musical traditions, mainly in Mexico and Cuba. While Mexican conjuntos play styles such as norteño and tejano, Cuban conjuntos specialize in the son, as well as its derivations such as salsa.
Norteño or Norteña, also música norteña, is a genre of Regional Mexican music. The music is most often based on duple and triple metre and its lyrics often deal with socially relevant topics, although there are also many norteño love songs. The accordion and the bajo sexto are traditional norteño's most characteristic instruments. Norteña music developed in the late 19th century, as a mixture between local Mexican music and Austrian-Czech-origin folk music.
Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez is an American singer, songwriter and accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. He is known for playing Norteño, Tex Mex and Tejano music. Jimé
Los Tigres del Norte are a norteño band from San Jose, California. Originally founded in Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico, with sales of 60 million albums, the band is one of the most recognized groups in the genre, due to its long history and its successes within the Mexican community in the diaspora. The band is famous for its political corridos, some of which have been censored, even in its own country. The band is the only Mexican group to win 6 Grammy awards and 12 Latin Grammys. In addition, the band has made 40 films alongside the Almada brothers among other well-known Mexican actors.
Bajo sexto is a Mexican string instrument from the guitar family with 12 strings in six double courses. A closely related instrument is the bajo quinto which has 10 strings in five double courses.
Los Super Seven is an American supergroup which debuted in 1998. According to Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, "Los Super Seven isn't a band, per se – it's a collective, organized by manager Dan Goodman, who comes up with a concept for each of the group's albums and assembles a band to fit." The collective has released three albums to date, with wildly varying personnel. Only Ruben Ramos and Rick Trevino are featured on all three releases.
Intocable is a Mexican band from Mexico City and Zapata, Texas that plays Regional Mexican, Tex-Mex music. It was started by friends Ricardo Javier Muñoz and René Orlando Martínez in the early 1990s. In a few years, Intocable fused the genres Tejano and Norteño with a musical signature that fused Tejano's robust conjunto and Norteño folk rhythms with a pop balladry. Intocable is perhaps the most influential group in Tejano and their tough Tejano/Norteño fusion has become the blueprint for dozens of Tex-Mex groups. The group's style combines romantic, hooky melodies, tight instrumentation and vocal harmony.
Los Relámpagos del Norte were a Mexican norteño duo formed in the early 1960s by Cornelio Reyna and Ramón Ayala. Cornelio Reyna was the lead singer and bajo sexto player, while Ramon Ayala was the background vocalist and the accordion player. After successful careers together, Cornelio and Ramon parted ways in the early 1970s. They later reunited in 1995 to record a live album which was successful among their core audience.
La Mafia is a five-time Grammy Award-winning musical group. It has its roots in the Northside neighborhood of Houston, Texas, and has charted a course as a Latin music band.
Mariachi los Camperos de Nati Cano is a Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles-based mariachi ensemble which was formerly led by Natividad "Nati" Cano.
Narciso Martínez, whose nickname was El Huracan del Valle, was a Mexican folk musician. He began recording in 1935 and is the father of conjunto music. The Spanish word conjunto means 'group' and in El Valle de Tejas that means accordion, bajo sexto, and contrabajo. The same year, he and Santiago Almeida recorded their first 78 rpm record containing the polka "La Chicharronera" and the schottishche "El Tronconal" for Bluebird Records, which quickly became a success.
Paulino Bernal is an accordion player and Christian evangelist. He was a member of the Tejano Tex-Mex group Conjunto Bernal.
Los Palominos are a Tejano group from Uvalde, Texas.
José María De León Hernández, known professionally as Little Joe is an American tejano performer who grew up in Temple, Texas, and lives in Temple, Texas.
Lorenzo Martinez is an American musician who won the Grammy Award for Best Tejano Album in 2009, for his work with Los Texmaniacs on Borders Y Bailes.
Michael Edward Guerra, is a California-based accordionist, music producer, studio musician, and singer/songwriter.
Sunny Sauceda is a two-time Grammy-winning Tejano music artist from San Antonio, Texas. Sauceda plays the accordion and is known as the most energetic accordion player in the world. His accordion playing often over shadows his vocal prowess. Sauceda has a sultry but powerful modern voice.
David Lee Garza is an American Tejano musician and bandleader. Garza was born and raised in Poteet, Texas.
Carmen y Laura were a Mexican-American sister musical act who were considered a Tejano version of the Andrews Sisters. They were the first artists to record for Ideal Records.
